Enhancing Performance Under Stress: Stress Inoculation Training for Battlefield Airmen
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| Introduction Background Military training has many goals, but the overall objective is clear to ensure that personnel are prepared to meet mission requirements (Air Force Instruction 36-2201). To accomplish this objective, training aims to develop the necessary competencies in Air Force personnel. These competencies include not only the knowledge to successfully accomplish technical tasks but also the cross-functional skills or competencies necessary to succeed in a complex and often stressful environment. Such competencies may include adaptability, tolerance to stress, perseverance, and attention control (i.e., concentration. However, these competencies have not traditionally been taught or explicitly incorporated into training curricula for military personnel. Despite these gaps informal curricula, military organizations often try to develop these competencies in other ways. For example, military training organizations may create rigorous training standards that test the mettle and resolve of trainees. These standards often require that trainees execute tasks while exposed to a variety of stressors, both physical and psychological. Despite this emphasis on training under stress, which is an important component of stress inoculation training (SIT, considerably less attention has been placed on developing competencies (i.e., behavioral and cognitive skills) that facilitate successful performance in stressful environments. This skill training represents one component of SIT In short, SIT is one of several types of stress intervention programs that organizations can use to ensure success under a variety of stressful conditions. SIT is defined by three component stages (1) education about the stress response, (2) behavioral and skills training to control the stress response (e.g., attention control, and (3) opportunities to practice these skills under representative stressful conditions (e.g., live fire training. As such, SIT is a set of general principles . . . rather than a set of canned interventions (Meichenbaum, 2007, p. 8) that provides a flexible approach for dealing with a variety of stressors and intended outcomes. The specific guidelines (i.e., stages) for SIT will be discussed in more detail in Chapter Two. Battlefield airmen in particular, serve in several occupational specialties with a relatively high probability of exposure to stress as a result of their routine operations outside the wire (i.e., in enemy territory) (Manacapilli et al., 2007). Acknowledging this increased risk, this report reviews research and best practices for developing those competencies that may help battlefield airmen succeed under a variety of stressful conditions. More specifically, we focus on the 1 SIT and stress exposure training (SET) are used synonymously in this report. However, some differences between SIT and SET exist and are described in Chapter Two Enlisted specialties include pararescue (PJ), combat control (combat control team [CCT]), tactical air control (tactical air control party [TACP]), and special operations weather team (SOWT). 2 Enhancing Performance Under Stress Stress Inoculation Training for Battlefield Airmen training and optimization of performance of two battlefield airmen specialties pararescue and combat control. [P]ararescuemen, also known as PJs, are the only Department of Defense specialty specifically trained and equipped to conduct conventional or unconventional rescue operations. These Battlefield Airmen are the ideal force for personnel recovery and combat search and rescue. A pararescueman’s primary function is as a personnel recovery specialist, with emergency medical capabilities in humanitarian and combat environments. They deploy in any available manner, to include air-land-sea tactics, into restricted environments to authenticate, extract, treat, stabilize and evacuate injured personnel, while acting in an enemy- evading, recovery role. PJs participate in search and rescue, combat search and rescue, recovery support for NASA and conduct other operations as appropriate. 3 Combat controllers, generally referred to as CCTs, are assigned to special tactics squadrons to deploy undetected into combat and hostile environments to establish assault zones or airfields, while simultaneously conducting air traffic control, fire support, command and control, direct action, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, humanitarian assistance and special reconnaissance We selected PJs and CCTs because these career specialties are known to include stress as an integral component of training (Manacapilli et al., 2007). Additional information on the PJ and CCT training pipeline is provided in a following section on how the Air Force approaches SIT. The primary question addressed by this research was Is the Air Force doing everything it canto prepare battlefield airmen to perform successfully under stressful conditions Therefore, to the extent that stress is anticipated for other battlefield airmen, the research, general principles, and training approaches presented in this report would certainly apply. Download 339 Kb. Share with your friends:
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